Ferals
by StyxBlade
Summary: Pokémon. Proud, powerful beasts. We are the masters of nature, and yet we suffer at the hands of humans. Partners, the humans say. There is no partnership between a master and his slaves. We will fight until we reclaim our birthright as rulers of the wild. You have created your demise, humans, for we are pokémon and we are wild. Look upon your works, ye mighty, and despair.


"Go, Pikachu!"

A beam of red light shot out into the battlefield, materializing into the form of a small rodent. The golden furred creature appeared, quadrupled and with its lightning bolt tail raised high into the air. Its cold eyes stared straight forward, unfeeling. A feral shriek emitted from its throat, announcing its readiness. "PIIIIIII!"

On the other side of the field, there was a butterfly hovering above the ground. Its spotted wings flapped, slowly, as not to expend more effort than necessary. A black, curly proboscis hung from its mouth. It met its foe's eyes, bright blue orbs now focused.

"Ladies and gentlemen, it seems Natalie has selected her pikachu! Can it fight back and defeat Daisy's beautifly? That beautifly has already taken out Natalie's seadra with little damage, after all!" A booming voice echoed through the arena, announcing the state of the battle, and was followed closely by hollers of excitement from the crowd. A foreign feeling of worry for the teammates nestled in Pikachu's chest, but it had no time to think. The mouse stood up on its hindquarters, a chain connected to the light ball dangling off its neck.

"Pikachu, use Fake Out!" called his trainer. Pikachu darted forth, both paws aglow with a white power. The mouse smashed them together on the beautifly's face, hearing the resulting cry of agony and feeling nothing. It landed before its bug-flying type foe, watching it writhe in pain.

"Beautifly is flinching! Next attack goes to Natalie," the referee said, pointing a red flag at Natalie's end. She nodded to him, eager to finish off the beautifly. From there, Daisy would only have one other pokémon remaining while she'd have two.

"Use Discharge!" Pikachu's cheeks flared with yellow sparks of electricity, shrouding its whole body. It unleashed the attack, filling the field with electricity. Natalie, Daisy, and the referee were protected by the bluish Trainer Shields, unharmed from the blast. The beautifly, however, was not so lucky, and was struck full-force. The beautifly cried out, flapping its wings with much effort. It was exhausted, Pikachu realized, but not knocked out.

"Beautifly, Silver Wind!" The butterfly fluttered its wings, and then, with some mystical power Pikachu didn't understand, threw out a mighty wind. Pikachu could smell the faint scent of pollen and honey on the breeze. It lulled it away for a minute...

...and the wind barreled it over like a Water Pulse hitting a ponyta. Pikachu fell to the ground, having been distracted from the battle for a brief few seconds. It meant little, though, because now it was their turn. Pikachu staggered to its feet and stood up, prepared to attack again.

"Discharge, again!" Pikachu felt the electricity go to its cheeks almost before she was finished giving the command, and it let loose another monstrous Discharge attack. The beautifly was, once again, hit hard, and this time it fell onto the ground, limp and unconscious. The crowd waited with bated breath to see if it would get back up, but it was a clear knock out.

"Beautifly is unable to battle!" The referee declared. "Pikachu is the winner!"

The audience went into an uproar of cheers and applause and boos and whistles and sounds. Pikachu heard none of it, just the sound of Daisy grabbing her last pokéball. It looked at its trainer, suddenly apprehensive. Pikachu did not have a good feeling about the next pokémon.

Natalie did not notice, as she was busy watching Daisy and thinking up a strategy. Pikachu had no idea how humans did all that thinking - it strained its mind when it tried - but it helped Pikachu battle better, so it supposed it didn't matter. Natalie picked up her other pokéball containing her last choice, contemplating the idea of sending it out, but put it away. Pikachu could handle it, she seemed to have decided. It would not let her down.

"Go, Lopunny!" Out of the pokéball came a brown, bipedal, rabbit-like pokémon with long ears and cream colored tuffs of fur around its wrists and ankles. Pikachu hadn't seen anything like it before, but it seemed like a normal-fighting type in its mind. It wasn't terribly imposing, either, standing just under four feet tall. Pikachu shouldn't have felt any anxiety, but a chill ran down its spine when it saw its opponent's eyes. The lopunny looked fierce and crazed. Wild, even.

"Pikachu, use Brick Break!" Natalie commanded. Pikachu's tiny paws glowed a cerulean shade of blue, and it took off running towards the lopunny, ready to strike. Brick Break, Pikachu recalled from the dark recesses of his mind, had perfect accuracy, and as a fighting move would probably also have the type advantage. They had this in the bag.

They would have, anyways, if the lopunny hadn't jumped up. Pikachu's eyes widened a split second before it crashed into the arena wall, its Brick Break gone. Cries of outrage rang through the crowd - "that wasn't a legal move!" you could hear them scream - and Daisy's expression became one of panic. She had not expected this.

The lopunny landed behind Pikachu, perfectly still, the wild look in its eyes gone.

"Lopunny has broken the rules by illegally dodging a perfect accuracy attack. Therefore, Lopunny is eliminated and Pikachu is the winner, making Natalie the winner of this match!" the referee declared, holding the red flag towards Natalie. Still startled by the sudden turn of events, it took Natalie a few moments before she cheered in glee. Pikachu was too dizzy to acknowledge what was going on, rolling over and attempting to stand.

The crowd burst into confusion, and it amplified when the lopunny did not stop attacking. The lopunny's hand glowed with white energy [Dizzy Punch, the pikachu realized] and it rammed its fist into Pikachu's gut, sending it flying into the air. Pikachu could not breathe for a moment and time seemed to slow down.. It managed to form one coherent thought. _Where..?_

The lopunny leaped high and kneed the pikachu, sending it into the ceiling and back down. The lopunny comboed with a Drain Punch to the mouse pokémon's back, and Pikachu fell to the ground faster than a Draco Meteor from a salamence. A soft thud signified Pikachu hitting the dirt face-first, and it swore it could feel the pain more vividly than it ever had before.

Its attacker landed, standing high above, and Pikachu could see the shadow looming just its bruised body. _I'm finished…_ it heard its mind say. Pikachu closed its eyes, praying for something to save it.

There was nothing that stopped the foot of the lopunny from driving into Pikachu's stomach and into the air again. The lopunny pummeled the mouse with a rapid barrage of punches, finishing with one last Dizzy Punch to send Pikachu into the wall. While the electric type struggled to open its eyes, a red beam hit the lopunny in the back, returning the beast to its pokéball. Daisy had finally managed to recall the lopunny, preventing it from doing further damage.

Pikachu realized none of this, just the agony coursing through its body. Unbearable. It should've died, right? It wanted the sweet release, and yet was terrified. It had never been hurt so badly before. Would it live? Pikachu didn't know.

 _Please, let me survive…_

Pikachu silently begged for the mercy of the nonexistent Gods. Please, oh please, it wanted to say. It could not say a word. It couldn't think, either. It was just a pokémon, after all. Right?

 _Please…_

That was the last thought Pikachu had before everything went black.


End file.
